


Patty's Niece

by natashasbanner



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 20:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7985167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natashasbanner/pseuds/natashasbanner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Patty brings her two year old niece to the firehouse and the Ghostbusters can't get enough of little Skylar.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Patty's Niece

**Author's Note:**

> I saw a post on Tumblr asking for something like this and decided to try my hand at it. Enjoy :)

“Has anyone heard from Patty?” The question came from Abby as she ascended the stairs to the second floor of the Ghostbusters’ firehouse headquarters.

 

Holtzmann and Erin both looked up from Erin’s proton pack that Holtzmann was working on, but it was Erin who spoke.

 

“No, why? Is something wrong?” she asked quickly, her face twisting in concern.

 

“No, she’s just usually here by now is all,” Abby rushed to ease the other woman’s fear before her mind could jump to the worst case scenario. Erin relaxed a little, but jumped when the pack on the table between her and Holtzmann began to shoot off little sparks. 

 

“I got it,” Holtzmann exclaimed, quickly diving back in to tinkering with the pack to stop the spontaneous sparking. Erin and Abby took a few steps back just to be safe.

 

“What about you Holtzmann? Do you know what’s going on with Patty?”

 

Holtzmann didn’t answer right away, her attention focused on making the sparking stop. When she finally found the cause of the sparks and repaired the damage, she looked up at Abby with furrowed eyebrows.

 

“Why would I know?” she questioned, sliding her glasses down her nose.

 

Erin and Abby exchanged an exasperated look before turning back to Holtzmann.

 

“You and Patty are kind of a thing, right?” Erin asked, clearing her throat at the end of her question.

 

Holtzmann nodded her head affirmatively. “You could say that.”

 

“Then it only makes sense that you would know, better than Erin or myself, what, if anything, is keeping Patty from arriving at her usual time,” Abby jumped in to elaborate when she saw Erin’s lips pinched in a thin line and one of her fists clenched at her side.

 

“Fair enough,” Holtzmann conceded. She took in a deep breath. “I don’t know.”

 

“Glad we got that settled.” Erin said with a sigh before rejoining Holtzmann at the workbench.

 

Abby shook her head at her friends and headed back toward the stairs, running through the list of things she would need Kevin to do that day, when she heard the sound of the firehouse door opening and closing.

 

“Anyone here?” Patty called out, her voice drifting up the stairs.

 

“We’re up here,” Abby yelled back, checking that off her mental list of things to worry about.

 

Patty appeared at the top of the stairs and smiled at her friends/colleagues. “‘Morning y’all,” she said in greeting, “sorry I’m late, but I had to stop by my brother’s place on my way in.”

 

All three women looked over at the final member of their team and Patty couldn’t help but notice the varying degrees of shock mixed with confusion on their faces.

 

“Who’s this?” Abby said, breaking the silence, her voice slightly higher than usual. Her eyes were on the toddler perched on Patty’s hip.

 

“This is my niece Skylar,” Patty answered, shifting the little girl slightly on her hip. “Is it cool if she hangs out here with us today?”

 

“Is this really the best place to have a baby?” Erin piped up, looking nervously between little Skylar and the machines lining the wall behind Holtzmann.

 

“As long as Holtzy isn’t planning on doing anything that will blow us up today, I figured it would be alright.” Patty shrugged and smiled at Skylar when she reached up to play with her earring.

 

“Just some routine maintenance on the agenda today,” Holtzmann confirmed, her wide eyes never leaving the baby her girlfriend was holding.

 

“See.”

 

“I don’t see why not,” Abby relented, “I can’t say no to that face.”

 

“She is really cute,” Erin added, leaving the workbench to stand beside Abby who had started making silly faces at the adorable toddler, earning herself a dimpled smile.

 

“What can I say, good looks run in the family.”

 

Erin and Abby chuckled at that and behind them Patty could see Holtzmann wink at her.

 

“I’ll get to it then,” Patty said with a final nod. She started for her library before stopping short, suddenly remembering something. “Y’all know Kevin’s not here right?”

 

“I swear to…” Abby trialed off, muttering under her breath as she hurried down to the first floor. "He was just here." 

 

Patty shook her head and went to the small library they’d set up that was sectioned off from Holtzmann’s lab.

 

X

 

“Hey, do you have minute?” Abby asked after she knocked on the library’s open door.

 

Patty looked up from the book in her hand and leaned back in her chair. “Sure. What’s up?”

 

“I was just wondering if you started the research on that hotel ghost we busted last week? They think they might have another entity and I’d like to know what we’re dealing with.” She asked, moving into the room and sitting down on the couch adjacent to Patty’s desk.

 

“Uh,” Patty shuffled a few papers around for a moment before pulling one out of the pile with a triumphant ‘aha’. “This is all I have so far, but that building has gone through so much restoration and renovation it’s gonna be hard to pin down which era it’s from exactly, without seeing it.”

 

“I’ll take what I can get.”

 

Patty passed the paper to Abby and Abby looked it over. She pulled out a pen to start jotting her own notes next to Patty’s typed up ones when she felt two little hands on her knees. She moved the paper aside to see big brown eyes looking up at her curiously.

 

“Hi there,” she said, smiling down at Skylar who smiled back up at her. “Whatcha doing?”

 

“Play,” she answered, pointing to her toys that were scattered in the middle of the floor. “You play?”

 

Abby snuck a glance over at Patty. The other woman raised an eyebrow at her and that was all the coaxing Abby needed before she was sliding on the floor to sit next to Skylar.

 

“Bwocks,” Skylar said pushing a few of her oversized Legos toward Abby.

 

Abby took the offered Legos and stacked a few of them together in a tiny tower. Skylar did the same for a minute before deciding that building towers wasn’t nearly as fun as knocking them down. She started knocking down her own creations and then moved on to slapping down Abby’s Lego creations.

 

“Hey,” Abby exclaimed after the third time Skylar reached over and knocked Abby’s Legos to the floor. “I was making something.”

 

Skylar giggled and pushed more Legos at Abby. She didn’t even give Abby a chance to even start building anything before slapping half of them across the floor and giggling.

 

“That’s how you wanna play, huh?” Abby said before gently taking a gentle poke at Skylar’s side.

 

The toddler let out a high pitched squeal that brought a smile to Abby’s face.

 

“I think somebody’s ticklish,” Abby said and wiggled her fingers, reaching out to lightly tickle Skylar’s sides and belly. The tickles resulted in loud peals of laughter from the toddler and Abby couldn’t help but laugh along with her.

 

Patty watched the entire scene with a fond smile, chuckling herself when Skylar tried to turn the tables and tickle Abby back. That lasted until both Abby and Skylar were laid out on the floor, soft giggles escaping them both. Skylar let out yawn after they settled down and Abby sat upright once more.

 

“That was a big yawn, little one,” she pointed out.

 

“I think it’s nap time for little miss Skylar,” Patty announced, standing from her desk.

 

Skylar shot up like a rocket and hid herself behind Abby. “No nap,” she exclaimed though it was punctuated by another big yawn.

 

“Yes, it’s nap time, Skylar,” Patty said firmly as she walked over and easily reached around Abby and scooped her niece up.

 

Abby stood from the floor and brushed off her jeans. She watched Patty argue about a nap with Skylar who was fading fast for a minute before taking her leave.

 

“I’ll just come back later,” she said as she backed out of the door.

 

“Can you close the door behind you,” Patty called after her from beside the pack and play Skylar was refusing to lay down in.

 

Abby nodded silently and closed the door as she left.

 

X

 

Erin was working, furiously scribbling on one of her whiteboards. She was on the brink of something, she could feel it, but she couldn’t for the life of her figure it out. She heard the sound of her door creaking open and rolled her eyes, figuring it was Holtzmann trying to sneak up on her as she was prone to do.

 

“Not now, Holtz,” she started, but stopped when she saw Patty’s niece standing at her feet looking up at her curiously, pacifier in her mouth.

 

“Oh, um...hello,” Erin said, smiling shakily down at the toddler. “What are you doing in here?” She looked toward the door, hoping Patty would come in and retrieve the little girl.  

 

Skylar held one hand up and open and closed her fist in an adorable wave. She then brought up both hands and reached for Erin, a clear indication she wanted to be picked up. Erin blinked a few times before she got the picture.

 

“Oh, okay.”

 

Erin set her marker down and bent over to pick Skylar up. She settled the toddler on her hip and let out the breath she’d been holding when Skylar settled in and grinned at her around her pacifier.

 

“This isn’t so bad,” Erin muttered to herself, bouncing Skylar softly on her hip a few times earning a giggle from the girl. “Wanna help me figure this out?”

 

The only answer she got was Skylar taking a fistful of her hair and tugging a little. It didn’t hurt but Erin gently pried her little fist away from her hair before she started really yanking on the strands. She handed one of her dry erase markers to Skylar after making sure the cap was on tight and going back to her equations.

 

Skylar proved to be quite the little work partner. Erin’s gentle swaying back and forth while she muttered what she was writing quietly to herself seemed to have a soothing effect on Skylar. She rested her head on Erin’s shoulder, absently playing with her necklace and would occasionally reach out and tap the marker in her hand against the whiteboard.

 

Erin didn’t know how much time had passed, just that she finally figured out the solution that had been eluding her when she heard footsteps in the hall followed by Patty’s frantic voice.

“Have you seen…” She trailed off when she saw Erin guiding Skylar’s hand to make little loops next to her equations. “Never mind.”

 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were looking for her,” Erin quickly explained, cheeks burning.

 

“It’s alright. Houdini here escaped the pack and play right under my nose.”

 

“She makes an excellent work buddy. Very helpful. Isn’t that right?” She bounced Skylar on her hip again. The toddler laughed and threw the marker on the floor. “Well she was before you got here.”

 

“I bet she was, but it’s time for lunch now,” Patty said holding her arms out for Skylar. Skylar flung herself at Patty, startling Erin, but Patty was prepared for the jump and caught the two year old easily.

 

“That goes for you too, Erin,” Patty said as she left the room.

 

Erin looked at her whiteboards itching to finish, but she sighed and put down her marker before following Patty out.

 

X

 

“Skylar don’t throw that,” Patty said as Skylar screamed and threw her Legos at the ground and stomped her feet.

 

“No!” Skylar yelled and kicked the toy cars across the floor.

 

Patty sighed and ran a hand down her face. They were going on half an hour of this tantrum and Skylar wasn’t showing any signs of stopping and Patty didn’t know what to do. Clearly she didn’t want any of her toys and she’d refused a snack and her sippy cup. Patty really needed to finish a case study for Abby and Erin’s book, but that was proving to be impossible now that Skylar decided she was done behaving for the day.

 

“Do you want to sit with Aunt Patty?”

 

Skylar stopped screaming and ran over to Patty and lifted her arms impatiently to be picked up. Patty picked her up and settled her in her lap, and Skylar seemed content for the moment.

 

The peace only lasted long enough for Skylar to realize how much fun stuff Patty had on her desk and just how much of it was within her grasp. She leaned forward and swiped her hand across the surface, sending a pile of papers to the floor. Skylar laughed and reached for a short stack of books, but Patty was faster and pushed them out of her reach.

 

Skylar pouted at that and grabbed the pen Patty had abandoned and shoved the end in her mouth.

 

“Skylar,” Patty chastised and took the pen back, resigning herself to dealing with an ornery toddler until her brother came to pick her up.

 

That set the two year old off again and she screamed and thrashed in Patty’s arms until Patty had to set her back on the floor or risk dropping her. Skylar threw herself down on her back and just wailed slamming her hands and feet into the floor.

 

“It’s very loud in here.”

Patty looked up to see that Holtzmann had come into the room and was draped over the couch with her hands over her ears.

 

“I don’t know what’s gotten into her,” Patty said sounding exhausted.

 

“Maybe I can help?” Holtzmann offered and slid from the couch to the floor.

 

“Be my guest.” Patty would do just about anything to get the screaming to stop.

 

Holtzmann crawled across the floor until she was right next to Skylar who was still screaming at the top of her lungs.  

 

“Hey,” Holtzmann tried getting her attention, not raising her voice above her normal speaking voice.

 

Skylar didn’t seem to hear her or was ignoring her and just continued to cry.

 

“Hey,” she tried again, this time lightly poking Skylar’s curled up fist.

 

Brown eyes opened and the crying turned into quiet sniffles. Skylar looked at the new person in the room who was laying on the floor beside her with interest.

 

“Let’s blow this popsicle stand,” Holtzmann whispered conspiratorially to Skylar.

 

“Play?” Skylar asked, sniffing a little and rubbing at her eyes with her fist.

 

“Oh yeah. Let’s go.”

 

Holtzmann popped up from the floor and waited for Skylar to roll herself over and get to her feet. She held out her hand to the toddler and Skylar clutched her fingers, her eyes never leaving Holtzmann.

 

“I can keep an eye on her while you get some work done.”

 

Patty smiled gratefully at the other woman and bent down to pick up the papers that were still on the floor. Her head shot up and she caught a glimpse of Holtzy and Skylar leaving the room when a thought occurred to her.

 

“Do not take her to your lab, Holtzy,” she shouted, ready to bolt out of her chair to make sure Holtzmann heard her and understood that under no circumstances should a two year old be around anything that could be classified as a nuclear weapon.

 

“Wasn’t planning on it,” Holtzmann yelled back like it was the most obvious thing in the world, which it was.

 

“Your aunt has no faith in me,” Holtzmann told Skylar, who just tilted her head at her. “Let’s go see what Kevin is up to.”

 

When they reached the stairs Holtzmann lifted Skylar up and propped her on her hip as they went downstairs. Skylar immediately reached up to grab at the wild mop of blonde curls on top of Holtzmann’s head. Holtzmann shook her head slightly causing the ends of her hair to tickle Skylar’s nose, earning her one of the giggles she’d been hearing all day. Holtzmann smiled at that.

 

They got to the first floor and Holtzmann headed for reception to find Kevin leaning dangerously back in his chair, his fingers stuck in one of those Chinese finger traps.

 

“What’s up Kev,” Holtzmann greeted, coming to a stop beside Kevin’s desk.

 

Her voice startled the man and his chair slammed back to the ground. He looked up at Holtzmann and then at Skylar before tilting his head, clearly confused.

 

“Hey boss. I didn’t know you had a kid.”

 

“This is Patty’s niece, you saw her this morning,” Holtzmann pointed out.

 

“I think I would have remembered that,” Kevin replied, looking at his fingers and struggling to free them from the trap.

 

“Sure you would buddy.” Holtzmann said and walked away from Kevin’s desk, making a mental note to let Abby know she would probably have to cut Kevin out of the trap later.

 

She went back to the stairs, making sure to steer clear of the lab equipment they had set up. Skylar looked at the glowing and beeping machines and pointed at them.

 

“Maybe when you’re older,” Holtzmann promised.

 

She bypassed the second floor and continued up to the third floor where the rec room, kitchen, and sleeping quarters were located. She went into the empty rec room and set Skylar on the floor. On the table sat her latest project, a simple alarm system that would trigger a loud siren and hopefully keep Kevin off the second floor. He didn’t know how to leave Patty and Holtzmann’s stuff alone. She grabbed it and sat on the floor next to Skylar.

 

“This really cool,” she started and began pointing out the different parts and how they worked. Skylar listened with rapt attention.

 

At one point Skylar crawled into Holtz’s lap and reclined against her chest. Holtzmann froze at first, unsure what to with the little person in her lap, but she relaxed quickly enough when Skylar nudged her arm and pointed at the circuit board on the floor in front of them.

 

Holtzmann got so caught up in her explanation, all too advanced for a toddler to understand, she didn’t notice Skylar start to nod off until her head flopped to the side. She looked down at the little girl, fully asleep with her thumb hanging out of her mouth and couldn’t help but smile. She’d never been particularly been fond of kids, but how could you not like something as sweet as little Skylar.

 

That’s how Patty found them, Holtzmann quietly working on the alarm with Skylar snoozing peacefully against her chest.

 

“Hey, baby,” Patty whispered to get Holtzy’s attention.

 

Holtzmann looked up and smiled when her eyes landed on Patty standing in the doorway of the rec room.

 

“Hi,” she whispered back, glancing down at Skylar when she shifted against her. “I think I bored her to sleep.”

 

“I’m not complaining,” Patty chuckled, walking into the room and sitting on the couch behind Holtzmann.

 

“She’s pretty cool. Can we keep her?”

 

“My brother’s coming to pick her up in a little bit, but maybe I can volunteer us to babysit when he and his wife want a date night,” Patty suggested, trying to gauge how serious Holtzmann was about kidnapping her niece. Skylar was fun to have around every once in awhile, but she wasn’t too broken up about giving her back to her brother. Looking after a toddler was exhausting.

 

Holtzmann’s face scrunched up as she thought it over. “That could work, gotta start ‘em young you know,” she said inclining her head toward the project at her feet.

 

“We’ll see.”

 

Holtzmann let out a short breath. “Alright.”

 

Patty smiled and leaned over to kiss Holtzmann’s temple. Holtzmann smiled a small smile, her cheeks getting red. She turned her face up and puckered her lips at Patty.

 

Patty rolled her eyes playfully but obliged with a chaste kiss to Holtzmann’s lips.

 

“Thank you,” she whispered, straightening and leaning back against the couch.

“For what?” Holtzmann questioned, moving her arm to reposition Skylar’s head so her neck wasn’t bent at such a painful angle.

 

“Helping with Sky,” Patty explained. “I really had to get some work done.”

 

Holtzmann shrugged. “What are girlfriends for?”

 

“I appreciate it nonetheless,” Patty told her and reached out to rub the back of her neck, sending a shiver down Holtzmann’s spine.

 

“Anything for you, Patricia,” she told her seriously.

 

“I love you, baby.”

 

“Right back attcha, Patty Cakes.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> As always you can find me on Tumblr @pattysholtzy. Thank you :)


End file.
